


The Key

by BeccaAnne814



Series: Bucky Barnes x Reader Oneshots [18]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Intrigue, Mentions of Bucky’s past with HYDRA, Mystery, Probably a curse word or two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:16:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22196563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaAnne814/pseuds/BeccaAnne814
Summary: Bucky is learning to live the simple life in Wakanda, but he ends up making a new friend he hadn’t counted on.  Is it possible that she’s actually what she claims to be?
Relationships: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Series: Bucky Barnes x Reader Oneshots [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/772437
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	The Key

**Bucky Barnes x Reader**

**Summary** – Bucky is learning to live the simple life in Wakanda, but he ends up making a new friend he hadn’t counted on. Is it possible that she’s actually what she claims to be?

**Warnings** – Mystery, Intrigue, Mentions of Bucky’s past with HYDRA…probably a curse word or two

**Word Count** – 1.9K

**Notes:** At the end.

_ ** [Masterlist](https://beccaanne814.tumblr.com/post/174989754188/masterlist) ** _

[[MORE]]

Bucky had been in Wakanda for a few months, but it was the most peaceful few months he'd had in years. The Princess had spent days meticulously removing the trigger words from his mind, and the process left him too exhausted to do much more than fall into bed every evening. It hadn't been until his mind was fully his again that he'd requested to leave the palace and make a home for himself on the outskirts with the Border Tribes.

Life was peaceful and quiet away from the crowded city, but Bucky preferred it that way. Shuri may have removed the trigger words, but she hadn't been able to remove HYDRA completely—Bucky was still left with the memories of the atrocities he'd committed while under their control. His nightmares haunted him both day and night, and the only solace he found was from the small herd of goats he'd been tasked to tend to.

Life in Wakanda wasn't all that dissimilar to life anywhere in the world—the only difference were the animals he encountered on a daily basis. Growing up in Brooklyn, he hadn't had much experience with livestock, but cows and horses were fairly familiar creatures, unlike the giant rhinos that King T'Challa's best friend W'Kabi raised. 

He'd just started getting used to the large, some-what docile creatures, when a familiar animal happened by his cottage one afternoon. In all the time he'd been in Wakanda, he'd yet to see a single house-cat, so when the all-black feline hopped onto one of his fence posts and eyed him warily, he'd been a little taken aback.

The cat was a taciturn creature that never let him more than twenty feet near it before it would dart off into the woods. He'd tried everything to get it to come to him, but it was a wary animal that preferred to sit and watch him from a distance.

Bucky hadn't thought to mention the cat to anyone until W'Kabi asked for his help one afternoon. He was almost positive that W'Kabi didn't need his help, but rather, was trying to check up on him to make sure he was adjusting well enough to his new home.

"There's this cat that's been coming by for the past few weeks," he said offhandedly as he held a piece of fencing in place for W'Kabi to secure it with a few nails. "I didn't think you guys had cats in Wakanda since I never saw any in the city."

W'Kabi's eyebrow raised in surprise. "Solid black?" When Bucky nodded, he asked, "How close does it let you get before it runs off?"

Bucky narrowed his eyes. "About twenty feet. Why? What's the deal with the cat?"

"That cat carries a prize worth more than gold around it's neck, my friend," W'Kabi explained with a smile. "She belongs to a woman that lives just over that knoll over there."

Turning to look in the direction W'Kabi was pointing, Bucky tried to remember if he'd ever seen anyone coming or going from that hillside. "Who's the woman?"

"She's an outsider—not originally from Wakanda—but she's been here for a few years." He paused and considered for a moment. "YN's a lot like you, actually. Troubled past, happened to stumble upon us as she was fleeing some persecution or another." He shrugged. "No one knows where she came from, or who she was running from, but T'Challa offered her sanctuary here."

"So, how does the cat play into this story?" Bucky asked, not seeing the correlation.

W'Kabi put down his hammer and leaned against the fence post as he pointed toward the knoll. "She's a mysterious woman, and mysterious women always seem more attractive for whatever reason. Some of the men got it into their heads that all she needed was a good man to set her straight and went about trying to woo her."

Seeing where this was going, Bucky chuckled. "She didn't take to well to the wooing, did she?"

A wicked grin spread across W'Kabi's face. "Not at all, my friend. Fed up with all the unwanted attention, she made the men a deal. The first one that could retrieve a key from around the neck of her cat would be the man she'd marry."

"You said she'd been here for a few years?" Bucky asked as his brows raised in admiration. "No one ever got the key?"

With a laugh W'Kabi shook his head. "Not a single one—but oh, did they try. That poor cat was chased from one end of Wakanda to the other, but nothing they did worked. They tried bribing it with food, setting traps for it, and even lying in wait for it to walk past, but that cat is smarter than any animal I've ever seen before." He shrugged. "Most people have forgotten all about it, but some still carry the scars of their near-misses."

Bucky let the subject drop and got back to work, but he didn't forget the story W'Kabi had told him. He had no idea who YN was, but if she'd been through even half of what he'd endured, he understood why she kept to herself.

He continued to see the cat most days, but he no longer tried to get close to it. He did, however, notice the silver key that dangled from a ribbon tied around it's neck. The cottages in Wakanda didn't have locks on their doors, so he was more curious as to what the key unlocked than anything else. 

As the weeks turned into months, he kept a watchful eye out for the cat. He left out bits of food or a bowl of fresh goat's milk, but she never took what he offered. Which was why he was surprised when the cat walked right up to him one evening when he was roasting some freshly-caught fish over a fire he'd built by the river.

"Hello there," he whispered so as not to spook her.

She cautiously approached the fire and lifted her nose to catch the scent of freshly cooked fish. Bucky took the fish from the skewer and tore off a chunk. Reaching out slowly, he offered the meat to the cat and to his amazement, she took it from him.

With a smile, he grabbed an extra plate from the satchel he'd brought with him and split his meal with his new friend. When the fish was gone, he took both plates to the river to rinse them off, but the sight that greeting him upon his return sent a chill down his spine.

"YN, I presume," he said to the woman that had somehow appeared by his campfire without a sound. 

The woman nodded. "I am. But I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

Bucky walked back and sat by the fire. "James Barnes, but my friends call me Bucky."

A wry grin lifted the corners of her lips. "Well, in that case. . . Hello, Bucky."

"I didn't think you were interested in making friends," he stated as his eyes glanced around for the cat who seemed to have disappeared as silently as her master had appeared.

"I didn't think I was either, but you're not like everyone else here."

"How would you know? We've only just met."

The firelight caught her eyes, and he inhaled sharply as her irises turned yellow around almond-shaped pupils. When she blinked, her eyes returned to normal and Bucky tried to convince himself it had only been a trick of the light.

"I've been watching you for a while," she said as though nothing had just happened.

It took him a moment to register her words and when he did, he raised a brow in disbelief. "Look here, lady. I know you managed to sneak up on me tonight, but I would've noticed if you'd been close enough to keep tabs on me."

"Not if you didn't know what you were looking for," she said as she stood to rise.

She turned to him, and for the first time he noticed the ribbon tied loosely around her neck with a small silver key dangling from the end. It looked identical to the one her cat wore around it's neck, and Bucky's mind started making connections that didn't make any sense whatsoever.

"What's the key open?"

Reaching down, YN lifted the key and rubbed it between her thumb and forefinger. "A book."

"A diary?" he asked skeptically. 

"Not exactly," she said with a soft laugh before letting out a sigh. "Do you know what a Grimoire is?"

Rising slowly, he took a step closer to her. "Please don't tell me you're trying to convince me you're a witch."

"You've seen a lot in your life, Bucky," she observed with a cool stare. "More than most men ever will. Is it really so hard to believe that magic exists?"

Bucky thought about some of the unexplainable things he'd witnessed in his extremely long life. Between Steve with his super-soldier serum, Johann Schmidt with his blood-red face, and Scott Lang with his ability to shrink down to the size of ant, he couldn't help but believe that maybe—just maybe—YN was telling him the truth. 

Deciding to play along, a smirk came across his face. "If you're a witch, why didn't you just turn all your suitors into toads?"

She laid a hand over her heart and dramatically inhaled. "And let everyone in on my secret?"

"You told me."

Her playful attitude faded in an instant. "You're not like them." She paused and shrugged as she absentmindedly played with the key around her neck. "And maybe the secrets I have locked away could help you rest a little easier at night."

He watched as sympathy filled her eyes—or was it empathy? Either way, Bucky recognized her offer for what it was. He'd been experimented on so many times during his years with HYDRA, but after his experience with Shuri, he was a little more open-minded to alternative forms of medicine. Some might call what the Princess could do a form of magic, but that was only because they didn't understand the science—and science was something Bucky had always been fascinated with. He wasn't sure why he was so willing to trust YN after just meeting her, but he felt as though she was sincere in her offer to help.

"You don't have to decide tonight," she said as she watched the conflict play out in his mind. "Just know that you'll always be welcome in my home if you ever want to take me up on my offer."

Bucky didn't respond as she began to walk away. He already knew he'd be making a trip to her cottage at some point—he just wanted a few days to try to unravel the mystery surrounding her. 

As she neared the tree line, the shadows began to close in around her. Bucky strained his eyes to see her, but it was as though she'd disappeared into thin air. He was just about to douse the fire and head back to his cottage when a flash of yellow caught his attention. Looking down at the forest's floor, he saw a pair of feline eyes glowing bright from the light of the fire. With a blink, the cat was gone and Bucky was left wondering if the impossible just might be possible after all.

______________________

_Author's Note: Thank you for reading Day 277 of my writing challenge. I hope you enjoyed it! The plot of this story comes from a writing prompt I’ve had in my Pinterest idea board for a few years now, but I could never find the inspiration to write it. . .until now! I loved the idea of all those men desperately trying to force themselves into her life only to be thwarted time and time again by the cat. And then there’s one man that’s not trying to gain anything other than the cat’s friendship and that’s what finally breaks down her walls. The twist to this story is my favorite part, though, don’t you think? The MCU is a place where anything is possible, so it’s not too far-fetched to think a woman like that could exist. I look forward to your comments, and if you enjoyed this story, please consider reblogging!_


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